Sitting on a R49 billion environmental liability tied to 6 100 legacy mines, South Africa needs to consider a dedicated rehabilitation fund supported by mandatory levies on mining companies to meet its mine rehabilitation targets.
Speaking during a public lecture hosted by the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, Dr Fredua Agyemang pointed to Western Australia’s model, backed by industry levies and steady investment returns, as a possible solution to unlock consistent rehabilitation funding.
Dr Agyemang, a postdoctoral fellow at the South African Research Chair Initiative (SARCHI): Cities, Law and Environmental Sustainability (CLES), said South Africa’s approach to legacy mines must change if it is to meet its rehabilitation goals. “South Africa needs R49 billion to meet its rehabilitation targets, but only 44% of that amount is currently covered by financial provision,” he said.
“In 2010, the government planned to repair approximately 2 000 dissolved organic matter mines (DOMs) by 2021 because of their significant dangers and far-reaching consequences for society and the environment. The goal was to rehabilitate 6 100 DOMs by 2038. However, as of 31 March 2021, there has been relatively limited progress.
“Apart from asbestos mines, none of the 2 322 high-risk commodity DOMs had undergone rehabilitation. Among the 1 170 identified holdings, 507 (43%) were recorded as closed in the DOM database. Of the 261 asbestos mines, only 32 (12%) had been rehabilitated since the programme’s launch in 2006–07, with the remaining 229 mines earmarked for rehabilitation by 2033. Generally, rehabilitation efforts in South Africa have shown modest progress over the past 12 years (31 March 2010 to 31 March 2021), with the average annual percentage of rehabilitated mines increasing from 1,67% in 2009 to 2,35% in 2021,’’ said Dr Agyemang.
“Progress has stalled due to funding constraints, lack of coordinated enforcement and the difficulty of identifying responsible parties for mines abandoned decades ago,” he added.
How Western Australia has tackled the problem
Dr Agyemang has done a comparative legal study focused on how South Africa and Western Australia are managing the rehabilitation of legacy mines, meaning mines abandoned before the introduction of environmental laws.
Western Australia recorded about 60 000 abandoned mines and responded by establishing the Mining Rehabilitation Fund, a levy-based system requiring operating mining companies to contribute annually to a central fund, which is managed by the government.
"The central fund currently holds AUD 291,2 million and generates AUD 3,1 million in annual interest. The principal amount (AUD 291,2 million) is allocated to the rehabilitation of operating mines for which it has been specifically assigned, while part of the interest (AUD 3,1 million) is used to fund the rehabilitation of legacy mines," Dr Agyemang said.
The Western Australian model shifts the financial responsibility to industry while generating investment returns that support ongoing rehabilitation. “This enables ongoing rehabilitation without placing the financial burden on taxpayers.”
Rehabilitation delays are a health hazard
The environmental risks posed by unrehabilitated mines were also outlined in the lecture. These risks include acid mine drainage, water and soil pollution and land instability. Communities living near these sites face exposure to contamination, disruptions to livelihoods and limited land use. Informal and unsafe mining activities have emerged in some abandoned shafts, increasing health and safety risks.
Dr Agyemang noted that South Africa’s current framework, based on the National Environmental Management Act and the National Programme for the Rehabilitation of Derelict and Ownerless Mines, lacks long-term financial stability. "Because of legal constraints, the state cannot always enforce retroactive liability on polluters," he said, adding that this weakens accountability for environmental damage.
He recommended the creation of a dedicated rehabilitation fund supported by mandatory levies on mining companies. “Strengthening enforcement and coordination is critical to accelerating rehabilitation efforts and ensuring sustainable land use.”
Without a stable source of funding, Dr Agyemang warned, the pace of rehabilitation would remain slow, and the financial burden would continue to fall on the public sector – and therefore taxpayers.
Dr Fredua Agyemang
